HardiePlank® siding has been installed in millions homes in America. Their fiber cement planks have plenty of fans for good reasons. Unlike wood, it is non-combustible and rot-resistant. HardiePlank does not melt in high heat, like vinyl siding, and has a 30-year material warranty.

People that buy a home that is a few years old and has fiber cement siding expect that they are getting a wonderful, low-maintenance, and long lasting exterior on their future home. And they are, for the most part. It’s just that some builders used pressure-treated wood or a composite-wood product for the window, door, and corner trim. James Hardie company offers a full line of fiber cement wood trim to match their siding, but not all builders have used it. The material is more expensive and a little harder to work with than wood.

Why would a house with Hardieplank siding have exterior wood rot problems?

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Welcome to our blog!We want you to be an informed homebuyer, and each blog post is a question that we have answered for our friends and customers over the years. Hope they help you make a good choice for your next home.

Whenever we inspect one of these houses, and start poking a screwdriver into pockets of rotten wood in the exterior trim, homebuyers react with surprise. “The realtor said the home has cement siding,” is a typical comment. “Why are you finding rotten spots?”

The moral of this story is that, if you are buying a home with fiber cement siding, it’s a good thing. Just check to see if the trim material is fiber cement also. Having wood trim on a fiber-cement sided home is a not a reason to walk away from the house, but you should know that there will be more exterior maintenance and repair than a home that has a 100% fiber cement exterior.